Kerstin Hall

Evocative imagery, inexpert execution.

Any time one talks borderlands, one starts to invoke folk tales and myths, the stories about edges between life and death. I was interested as the stranger Vasethe worked at charming the reclusive and many-lived border-keeper Enis in her small, dusty cottage.

The language is vivid and up to the task of creating otherworldly beauty and eeriness:

"A full moon rose over the pan and ghosts whispered in the bright white wideness. The bundle of dolls' legs show more clattered against the fence."

Although Enis is willing to take Vasethe beyond the border and into "Mkalis, where gods and demons waged endless war for dominion over nine hundred and ninety-nine realms," understanding why turns out to be the story. Mkalis feels more like dream sequences than story. This style isn't unsurprising in mythic stories, but I kept waiting for it to make a kind of plotting sense, in that odd way that myths have--eventually someone needs to climb a ladder into the next world, trick an alligator, or tame honeybees to feed a village. Still, I'm a sucker for journeys, battles of wits, or dress-up affairs, so it certainly kept my attention.

"Are you mocking me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, although his voice was smiling. He picked up a chisel. Eris fell silent but did not leave. She rubbed her calf muscle, using her left foot.
"You're dangerous," she said at last.
"Debatable."

Much of the story is like this, laced with implied meaning. Yet after finishing, I realized that very little of what I read seemed to play a role in understanding the plotting and the character motivations. In some situations, the interactions and descriptions were downright pointless. Window-dressing, I suppose, which seems rather inexcusable in such a short book. With more work, they could have been used to create that comprehension bridge, to build out the reader's understanding of the Mkalis and the relationships between the gods and demons.

"Tiba had a strange voice, multiple people speaking in perfect unison. Her feet appeared within Vasethe’s line of vision: four of them, three-toed, taloned, the colour of river mud. She wore anklets of fingerbones. They clinked together when she walked. “After all this time, still pining after your dead god.”

I can cope with languid pacing and vivid imagery (think [b:The Night Circus|34468198|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488731775l/34468198._SY75_.jpg|14245059] and [b:Annihilation|17934530|Annihilation|Jeff VanderMeer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403941587l/17934530._SX50_.jpg|24946895], both of which I enjoyed), but when I found myself realizing that the writing was used in ways that deliberately obfuscated the plot, I was less inclined to be generous. Plot specifics are kept hazy so that the author may do a surprise reveal at the end. Once I finished, I found that character behaviors that seemed arbitrary made sense in this context, but it felt rather unsatisfying. Capriciousness, of course, is to be expected on the parts of gods and demons, but the format in playing with myths is that the listener/reader needs a human figure to grab onto who acts in an understandable way for understandable reasons. There are hints, but instead of the reader developing comprehension as the book progresses, it's more along the lines of 'surprise! This was hinted at once on page 52 at the beginning of the book!'

My thoughts on this one are difficult to summarize; I am left in a ying-yang state. I strongly like parts and I strongly dislike parts. Re-reading and re-discussing, rather than bringing me more to one position or another, actually intensified both aspects. I came to appreciate the hints that I did find about the end, while becoming more frustrated with the sleight-of-hand. Truly, a read where your mileage will vary.

"THEY ARRIVED LATE. A throng of gods and demons blocked the entrance to the hall, and the air buzzed with anticipation. In their finery, the rulers reminded Vasethe of a shoal of glittering fish."

Three and a half finger-bones, rounding up for discussion and thoughts. Oddly enough, if I bumped it down to three, it would only be as an expression of failed potential. My normal three-stars are often are quickies with low expectations.


Many thanks to Dylan, Stephen and Vivian for their thoughts during our buddy-read!

Ps. If Vivian doesn't put it in her excellent review, once you read the book, check out her little summary:

So V. is a reincarnated Yett?
Yes.

Who was murdered?
By Fanieq

Was there a part where we learned how Yett was murdered?
No details, just by Fanieq and that's why Eris killed or thought she killed Fanieq and destroyed her realm-revenge.

But Yett shared the soul perhaps with Vasethe, who clearly had those memories of the neck wound, the woman Raisha, etc?
My interpretation is that Yett was reincarnated as Vasethe--this why the whole souls traversing thing not being explained drove me nuts. As Vasethe he loves his classmate Raisha who dies/actually murdered by Fanieq and then has the affair with Niall who is secretly a 1/8 division of Fanieq soul and possibly/probably sires the baby dandled on Fanieq's knee which is what sent Vasethe to seek out Eris to find the missing baby.

--Wow this is like all kinds of afternoon soap opera fucked up. show less

I was not expecting Kerstin Hall’s Star Eater to be as dark as it is, but I did nothing more than glance at the cover image. Had I actually looked at it, I might have been better prepared for the more disturbing parts of the story. This is yet another story in which the heroine is as much a pawn as she is the great big hope for society, but I didn’t mind that. I also found the idea of a floating city, one torn from a greater landmass and raised through magic, to be particularly show more intriguing. Plus, there is something about the moral ambiguity of the Sisters that draws you into the heart of the novel. While they do have society’s best interest at heart, it comes at such a cost – and there will be some readers who will not be able to move past that cost. Star Eater is one story that should come with all sorts of trigger warnings given its contents, but I enjoyed it all the same, taboos and all. show less

Karys is a Deathspeaker; she’s made a deal with an absolutely horrifying eldritch creature at the price of her soul, but is given the ability to speak with the recent dead. During a job gone wrong a stranger becomes bound within her shadow, which turns out to be a huge no-no and extremely dangerous. Both are keeping secrets, and to survive they’ll have to come to some sort of trust.

If you like forced proximity, I don’t know if you can get closer proximity than stuck inside someone’s show more head. I’m a fan of slow burn romance, and the setting and world building was GREAT. Lots of weird divinities! Strange creatures and cities and customs! A super creepy eldritch horror that seems a little too into Karys and REALLY doesn’t understand that she doesn’t want to give up life and come live in his creepy hell palace forever and ever!

There’re some beautifully emotional moments, and some horrifying body-horror ones, and a lot about survival. Karys hasn’t had an easy life, she’s incredibly lonely, and for all this time she’s had to rely on herself. Breaking out of that kind of habit is very, very hard, and it’s a struggle for her to try and trust the new connections she’s making when balanced against that self-reliance.

I thought it was absolutely beautiful but it left us with a cliffhanger ending, so I’m happy to hear the author intends to pen a sequel! show less

In a Nutshell: Weird but imaginative. Not my kind of book at all! Hence, don’t judge the book by this review.

Story Synopsis:

Elfreda Raughn is the youngest acolyte in a sisterhood of magical priestesses who have a dark secret to their magic. She wants to get out of this almost dictatorial group but there’s no choice. Until now, when a shadowy rebel group has approached her with an offer of escape. But in order to do so, she needs to become a spy and connect with the head honchos of the

show more

Sisterhood. What lies in Elfreda’s fate is what you will discover by reading the book.
The story comes to us in the first person narration of Elfreda.

Where the book worked for me: show less